DOCSLIB.ORG

Rift on Immigration Widens for Conservatives and Cardinals

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Rift on Immigration Widens for Conservatives and Cardinals March 19, 2006 The Nation Rift on Immigration Widens for Conservatives and Cardinals By RACHEL L. SWARNS The New York Times WASHINGTON THE fierce battle over the future of America's immigration system is spilling from Capitol Hill onto the airwaves, as conservatives accuse Democrats, human rights groups and even some labor unions of trying to stymie Republican efforts to stem the tide of illegal immigration. But in recent weeks, some commentators and prominent Republicans have turned their swords against another formidable foe in their battle to tighten the borders: the Roman Catholic Church. Immigration has long caused friction between the church, with its advocacy for migrants, and conservatives, who want to slow illegal crossings over the Mexican border. But as Congress wrestles with the fate of the nation's 11 million illegal immigrants, that tension has escalated into a sharp war of words, highlighting the divide among some Republicans and Catholics who have fought side by side on other issues like abortion and same-sex marriage. In December, after the Republican-controlled House of Representatives passed a tough border security bill that, among other things, would make it a crime to assist illegal immigrants, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops assailed it as extremely punitive and called on its flock to oppose it. Church officials have sent lobbyists to Congress and this month parishes sent members to rallies in Chicago and Washington to push for legislation that would legalize undocumented immigrants and put them on the path to citizenship. Some Republicans are firing back. In February, Representative Tom Tancredo, a Colorado Republican who opposes illegal immigration, took issue with Catholic bishops, among other religious leaders, "for invoking God when arguing for a blanket amnesty" for illegal immigrants. This month, two powerful Republican representatives, Peter King of New York and F. James Sensenbrenner of Wisconsin, the co-sponsors of the border security bill, criticized the church leadership on "The O'Reilly Factor" on Fox News Channel, particularly Cardinal Roger Mahony of Los Angeles, who has said he would instruct his priests and parishioners to defy the legislation if it ever became law. Meanwhile, cable news commentators Tucker Carlson and Lou Dobbs have questioned whether the church should maintain its tax-exempt status, given its political activism on immigration. And in an interview, Mr. King accused church leaders of "committing the sin of hypocrisy" in their campaign to sway Congress and Catholic voters. "This is the left wing of the Catholic Church — these are the frustrated social workers," said Mr. King, who described himself as a practicing Catholic. "They're giving an incentive for more illegals to come here. I don't think it's right." In fact, the Catholic leadership is united on this issue, and includes several bishops who strongly suggested in 2004 that Catholics should vote for President Bush because of his opposition to abortion. Both sides say they will continue to work together on those campaigns. But the pointed attacks by some Republicans are notable, given that the party has worked hard to woo Catholic voters in recent years. Some analysts warn that such criticism of the church and of immigrants may alienate a critical voting bloc of largely immigrant origins. But others point out that, unlike their clergy, most white, non-Hispanic Catholics remain deeply divided over immigration, and a battle seems to be emerging for their hearts and minds. There are political implications. In preparation for the 2004 presidential election, the Bush administration cultivated church leaders, organized more than 50,000 volunteers and hired staff members to reach out to Catholic voters. The goal was to break the traditional allegiance to the Democratic Party, an affiliation that began to crumble with Ronald Reagan. The campaign bore fruit: In 2004, a majority of Catholics voted for a Republican presidential candidate for the first time in 16 years. But some analysts warn that Republicans need to tread carefully when they criticize the church and illegal immigrants. "The danger of this situation politically is that you'll have an entire season in which Republican politicians are saying critical things about the Catholic hierarchy," said Deal Hudson, the Republican architect of the effort to court Catholic voters in 2004. "That's not going to be helpful in terms of keeping the coalition together." But the Rev. Richard John Neuhaus, editor of First Things, a conservative journal about religion and public life, said he doubted that the disagreement would have much impact on Catholics. He said the sexual abuse scandals had already weakened the credibility of the church leadership in the minds of some Catholics. Republicans and the Catholic clergy have differed before on other issues — like the war in Iraq and the death penalty — without deeply affecting parishioners. And Mr. Neuhaus noted that while Catholics often connect deeply with their immigrant history, some make clear distinctions between their parents and grandparents and the more recent arrivals from Latin America. "My hunch is that if you remove from the bracket the approximately one-third of the Catholic population that is Hispanic, that probably most other Catholics would divide on this questions pretty much as the general population does," Father Neuhaus said. The Catholic leaders are keenly aware of the divisions among the faithful on this issue. Seventy of the 197 Catholic dioceses have formally committed to the immigration campaign, and officials are working hard to recruit the others. Leo Anchondo, who directs the immigrant campaign on behalf of the Catholic Conference of Bishops, said the cardinals and bishops were not surprised there was a backlash against such efforts. "Immigration has unfortunately become a very controversial topic," he said. But Cardinal Theodore E. McCarrick of Washington said he and other leaders decided they could not stay silent after witnessing the hardships endured by illegal immigrants, particularly as the wave from Latin America has surged. "This is a justice issue," he said. "We feel you have to take care of people." Mr. Sensenbrenner, the Republican chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, said Republicans had an obligation to clamp down on the border. To do otherwise, he said, would likely transform illegal immigrants into a permanent underclass in the United States. That, he pointed out on "The O'Reilly Factor," was an undesirable option. "And I don't think it's Christian either," he said. .
Load more

Recommended publications
  • The Catholic Bishops and the Rise of Evangelical Catholics
    religions Article The Catholic Bishops and the Rise of Evangelical Catholics Patricia Miller Received: 27 October 2015; Accepted: 22 December 2015; Published: 6 January 2016 Academic Editor: Timothy A. Byrnes Senior Correspondent, Religion Dispatches; [email protected]; Tel.: +1-703-519-8379 Abstract: White Catholics are increasingly trending toward the Republican Party, both as voters and candidates. Many of these Republican-leaning Catholics are displaying a more outspoken, culture-war oriented form of Catholicism that has been dubbed Evangelical Catholicism. Through their forceful disciplining of pro-choice Catholics and treatment of abortion in their quadrennial voting guides, as well as their emphasis on “religious liberty”, the U.S. bishops have played a major role in the rise of these Evangelical Catholics. Keywords: U.S. Catholic bishops; abortion; Republican; Democratic; voting 1. Introduction While the Catholic Church is associated with opposition to legalized abortion, a review of the historical record shows that the anti-abortion movement was largely fomented by the Catholic hierarchy and fueled by grassroots Evangelical opposition to abortion [1]. Lay Catholics have largely tracked general public opinion on abortion, with just over half of white Catholics saying it should be legal; polls have consistently found that only about 13% of Catholics support the position of the Catholic Church that abortion should be illegal in all circumstances [2,3]. As a result, Catholic voters have been comfortable supporting candidates who favor abortion rights, adding to their reputation as swing voters who have backed both successful Republican and Democratic presidential candidates. However, a substantial subset of white Catholic voters now appears more firmly committed to the Republican Party.
    [Show full text]
  • CATHOLIC BISHOPS, PUBLIC POLICY and the 2004 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION by Gretchen M
    CATHOLIC BISHOPS, PUBLIC POLICY AND THE 2004 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION By Gretchen M. MacMillan Copyright Gretchen M. MacMillan Preliminary draft; not for citation without permission Paper presented at the annual meetings of the Canadian Political Science Association, University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, June 2005 1 CATHOLIC BISHOPS, PUBLIC POLICY AND PRESIDENTIAL POLITICS IN THE UNITED STATES In the recent presidential election in the United States the role played by traditional Christian values gained a great deal of attention. This was primarily because of the link between the fundamentalist Christian right and the Republican Party. Another significant connection between Christian values and the election was the role played by the Bishops of the Roman Catholic Church. The major source of contention arose over the official Church position on abortion, same-sex marriage and stem-cell research and the position adopted by the Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry a Catholic whose position on these issues was at variance with those of his Church. The possible role they played in his defeat has major implications not only for Catholics in public life but also for the future of the Democratic Party. At the same time the relationship of Catholic social teachings and the role of the Bishops both in the formulation of public social policy and as moral leaders of the Catholic community are of importance for a group that makes up about one quarter of the American electorate. It is the purpose of this paper to examine some of these implications for the future role played by Catholics and the Catholic Church in American public policy.
    [Show full text]
  • Lutheran News, Inc. 684 Luther Lane, New Haven, Missouri 63068 Telephone: (573) 237-3110
    Lutheran News, Inc. _ 684 Luther Lane, New Haven, Missouri 63068 Telephone: (573) 237-3110 March 24, 2016 Dear Member of Trinity, Enclosed is the March 21, 2016 Christian News, the 2,500th issue of this weekly publication begun in 1962. Kurt Marquart is the author of the Statement of Policy on page 4 of every issue. Trinity has at times been mentioned in Christian News. It began in the basements of Trinity’s parsonage and church. Had it not been for the volunteer work of many informed members of Trinity, it may not have survived (see pages 1,2,6,7,). The publication had its beginning when Marquart and Herman Otten, the future Christian News editor, were roommates at the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod’s Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, during the 1950s. This history is told in the 10 volume Marquart’s Works completed last year by Christian News. During their student years, Marquart and Otten opposed some liberal faculty members, who denied the inerrancy of the Bible, the historicity of Genesis and Jonah, the immortality of the soul, the vicarious satisfaction of Christ, direct messianic prophecy, and other scriptural doctrines. The liberal professors promoted such destructive notions of higher criticism as the J-E-D-P source hypothesis, Deutero Isaiah, etc. Since the liberals still claimed to be faithful to the Lutheran confessions, Marquart and Otten recognized the need for a 20th Century Formula of Concord, which reaffirms the ancient creeds of Christendom and the Book of Concord of 1580 but also speaks to the issues of the day: evolution, higher criticism, abortion, homosexuality, same-sex marriage, etc.
    [Show full text]
  • The Trinity Review
    THE TRINITY REVIEW For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh, for the weapons of our warfare [are] not fleshly but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ. And they will be ready to punish all disobedience, when your obedience is fulfilled. March, April, May 1998 Copyright 2003 John W. Robbins Post Office Box 68, Unicoi, Tennessee 37692 Email: [email protected] Website: www.trinityfoundation.org Telephone: 423.743.0199 Fax: 423.743.2005 Healing the Mortal Wound John W. Robbins Several years ago, about the time Charles Colson, invited back to teach. In 1994, Dr. Robbins’ essay Chairman of Prison Fellowship, and Richard John on Colson’s errant theology would cost him a Neuhaus, President of the Institute on Religion and teaching position at The King’s College in New Public Life, quietly began their movement to York. In 1996, Bill Bright had his lawyers write overthrow the Reformation, The Trinity Review letters to The Trinity Foundation, threatening published an analysis of Colson’s theology titled litigation for mentioning on the cover of "The Counterfeit Gospel of Charles Colson" Justification by Faith Alone that Bright was a signer (January and February 1994). The ersatz- of "Evangelicals and Catholics Together." We can evangelicals were stung by our criticism of their only conclude that the ersatz-evangelicals, who are celebrated leader, whom they had nicknamed "the continually enthusing about love, love all things— thinking man’s Billy Graham," and they reacted except the truth, and all men—except those who maliciously.
    [Show full text]
  • Lutheranism in America
    Logia a journal of lutheran theology Carl Ferdinand Wilhelm Walther 1811–1887 Henry Melchior Mu¨hlenberg 1711–1787 L A Eastertide 1996 volume v, number 2 logia a journal of lutheran theology Eastertide 1996 volume v, number 2 .......................................................................................................................................................................... The Church-State Relationship and Augustana XVI in the Writings of C. F. W. Walther and S. S. Schmucker By James D. Heiser .................................................................................................................................................................................................. 5 Liturgical Uniformity in Missouri By Michael Henrichs.............................................................................................................................................................................................. Grabau and Walther: Theocentric versus Anthropocentric Understanding of Church and Ministry By Lowell C. Green................................................................................................................................................................................................ The ELCA: Its Past, Present, and Future By David A. Gustafson .......................................................................................................................................................................................... J. A. O. Preus By Leigh Jordahl ...................................................................................................................................................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • Advocating an Evangelical Catholic Lutheranism
    Lutheran Forum: Advocating an Evangelical Catholic Lutheranism Richard O. Johnson Editor, Forum Letter Affiliate Associate Professor of Church History Fuller Theological Seminary, Pasadena, California utheran Forum began publication under that name in Janu- ary 1967, but there is quite an extensive back story. The utheran Forum [is] intended to journal is published by the American Lutheran Publicity express its own vision, serving as LBureau (ALPB), a New York-based agency established in 1914 by L a group of Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod (LCMS) pastors and “an independent, responsibly critical laity. Their concern was twofold: they wanted to introduce the Missouri Synod’s confessional Lutheranism to the North American voice” within the Lutheran churches. public, and they wanted to encourage the Synod to engage more deliberately with North American culture. Not surprisingly dur- ing that age when the advertising industry was blossoming, these Synod as a full partner. The ALPB, recognizing this new reality, Lutherans believed that “publicity” was the key to both goals. decided to bring the American Lutheran to an end and replace it In 1918 they established a monthly magazine called the Ameri- with Lutheran Forum, a consciously inter-Lutheran, though still can Lutheran. Edited for the next twenty years by Paul Lindemann, independent, journal. To edit the new publication the ALPB board the American Lutheran conceived of itself as a magazine of “practi- chose Glenn Stone, a Lutheran Church in America (LCA) pastor cal church work.” It had much to say about church publicity, but (formerly Augustana Synod), who had been editing the National it soon evolved into a magazine that offered suggestions about a Lutheran Council’s National Lutheran.
    [Show full text]
  • Evangelium Vitae: Crossing the Threshold of Law with the Gospel of Life
    The Catholic Lawyer Volume 37 Number 4 Volume 37, Number 4 Article 3 Evangelium Vitae: Crossing the Threshold of Law with the Gospel of Life David A. Daigle Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarship.law.stjohns.edu/tcl Part of the Catholic Studies Commons This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Journals at St. John's Law Scholarship Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in The Catholic Lawyer by an authorized editor of St. John's Law Scholarship Repository. For more information, please contact [email protected]. EVANGELIUM VITAE: CROSSING THE THRESHOLD OF LAW WITH THE GOSPEL OF LIFE DAVID A. DAIGLE* See now that I, I am He, and beside me there is no other god. It is I who deal death and life. 1 David A. Daigle, B.A. 1988, St. Charles Borromeo Seminary; M.B.A. 1993, St. Joseph's University; J.D. 1996, Villanova University School of Law. The author would like to thank John M. Haas, president of the Pope John XXIII Medical Moral Research and Education Center of Braintree, Massachusetts for his contribution to the development of this paper. Dr. Haas is the former John Cardinal Krol Professor of Moral Theology at St. Charles Borromeo Seminary in Philadel- phia. During the spring of 1996, he graciously participated in the symposium at Villanova University School of Law entitled "The Ongoing Dilemma in the Law: Abortion in a Free Society." It is from his paper presented at the symposium that this article was developed. Other symposiasts were Robert P.
    [Show full text]
  • Introduction
    Introduction In late 1958, a brash young seminarian from the Bronx, New York, named Herman Otten stood before the faculty of Concordia Seminary in St. Louis, Missouri, to answer charges that he had “violated the law of love” as expressed by Jesus in the New Testament. Earlier that year, Otten had leveled accusations of heresy against several seminarians. Later, in a secret meeting with synod president John W. Behnken, Otten charged that mem- bers of the Concordia faculty were teaching heresy, denying the veracity of cherished Bible stories, and questioning scripture’s inerrancy and infallibil- ity. Faculty members, soon confronted by Behnken with otten’s charges, were incensed. They demanded not only that Otten admit that he had sinned in making charges without first confronting the accused—a clear vio- lation of the principle of Matthew 181—but that he retract his accusations. Otten refused. And so the faculty stood in judgment: After years of study and a graduate degree, Herman Otten would not be certified by Concor- dia Seminary for service as a minister in the Lutheran church—Missouri Synod (LCMS). In effect, he was blackballed from the church. Fourteen years later, in October 1972, many of the same men who had sat in judgment of young Otten were marched, one at a time, before a simi- lar committee in St. Louis. This time, they were on trial. Each man was now forced to answer the charges first raised by Otten in 1958: Were Adam and Eve real historical persons? Was Jesus’ mother, Mary, a virgin? Is the Holy Bible infallible and inerrant?2 Within three years, all but five would be out of a job, fired after a series of political defeats, tactical errors, and self-exile.
    [Show full text]
  • January 31, 2003 Vol
    Inside Archbishop Buechlein . 4, 5 Editorial . 4 Question Corner . 15 The Sunday and Daily Readings . 15 Serving the CChurchCriterion in Centralr andi Southert n Indianae Since 1960rion www.archindy.org January 31, 2003 Vol. XXXXII, No. 16 $1.00 March for Life Cure attributed to intercession of Mother Theodore Guérin is Photos by Ben Brown Photos by being investigated By Jennifer Lindberg An examination into the claim of a cure attributed to the intercession of Blessed Mother Theodore Guérin, who founded the Sisters of Providence and Saint Mary-of- the Woods College near Terre Haute, opened in the Archdiocese of Indianapolis on Jan. 23. Dr. Andrea Ambrosi of Rome, postulator Blessed Mother Theodore for Blessed Guérin Mother Theo- dore’s Cause, and a layman who is certi- Students from the Archdiocese of Indianapolis get ready to march up Constitution Avenue in Washington, D.C., for the March for Life. Nearly 500 teen-agers fied to bring such causes before the and adult chaperons from the archdiocese traveled to the nations’s capital to show their support for life and ask the country’s leaders to stop abortion. Congregation of the Causes of Saints at the Vatican, believes sufficient informa- tion is available to proceed with the for- mal investigation. Young people from archdiocese defend life The official process for canonization By Andrew DeCrane and Julie Brown their voices be heard in support of life from to me.” requires that a person have two miracles conception to natural death. For youth, the march is both a source of attributed to his or her intercession.
    [Show full text]
  • A Doctrine of the Bible Taught by Pastor Gregory P
    A Doctrine of the Bible Taught by Pastor Gregory P. Fryer Summer 2015 Lecture 4: The Bible and Renewal of the Church 10 a.m. Sunday, September 20, 2015 Hoping vs. Proclaiming I would like to begin this lecture by lingering a bit with something I said in last Sunday’s Coffee Hour presentation on joining the North American Lutheran Church (NALC). I said in that lecture that I hope that the kind of same-gender marriages the ELCA speaks of are in fact God-pleasing and will be thought to be so one day by the whole church on earth. I do indeed hope for this. My heart goes out to same-gender people who have fallen in love and mean to be true to one another for the rest of their lives, for better for worse, for richer for poorer, in sickness and in health, until they are parted by death. And yet, I feel that I cannot proclaim that such same-gender marriages are God-pleasing, nor can I perform such marriages as a pastor in Christ’s church. Why? Because the weight of Biblical evidence is against such marriages as I read the Bible. I am constrained by the Bible, by the literal text of the Bible. I feel that an honest reading of the Bible, from Genesis to Revelation forbids me to affirm and to do same-gender marriages. As I have said, the Bible is not a rule book but a world, and in that world, we find no encouragement for same-gender sex or marriage.
    [Show full text]
  • The Legacy of Avery Cardinal Dulles, S.J
    THE LEGACY OF AVERY CARDINALr DULLES, s.j. HIS WORDS AND HIS WITNESS EDITED BY ANNE-MARIE KIRMSE, o.p. AND MICHAEL M. CANARIS Foreword by Cardinal Theodore E. McCarrick THE LEGACY OF AVERY CARDINAL DULLES, S.J. ................. 18078$ $$FM 07-13-11 11:44:52 PS PAGE i ................. 18078$ $$FM 07-13-11 11:44:52 PS PAGE ii THE LEGACY OF AVERY CARDINAL DULLES, S.J. R His Words and His Witness Edited by ANNE-MARIE KIRMSE, O.P. and MICHAEL M. CANARIS Fordham University Press New York 2011 ................. 18078$ $$FM 07-13-11 11:44:53 PS PAGE iii Copyright ᭧ 2011 New York Province of the Society of Jesus All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or any other—except for brief quotations in printed reviews, without the prior permission of the publisher. Fordham University Press has no responsibility for the persistence or accuracy of URLs for external or third-party Internet websites referred to in this publication and does not guarantee that any content on such websites is, or will remain, accurate or appropriate. Fordham University Press also publishes its books in a variety of electronic formats. Some content that appears in print may not be available in electronic books. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data The legacy of Avery Cardinal Dulles, S.J. : his words and his witness / edited by Anne- Marie Kirmse and Michael M. Canaris.—1st ed. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references.
    [Show full text]
  • Promoting a New Synthesis of Fa Ith and Reason
    January • February 2008 • Volume 39 • Number 7 The Primacy of Christ and the Islamic Invitation AND SYNTHESIS NEW PROMOTING A Editorial The Primacy of Christ and Modern Dilemmas Stephen Dingley Incarnation, Priesthood and Communion with God REASON John Gavin The Primacy of Christ in Duns Scotus Phillippe Yates ALSO: OF Ida Zilio-Grandi on Islam's approach to love John Navone on the Uniqueness of Jesus William Oddie on an unsettling example of faith Marianne Cuthbertson on the practicality of integral catechesis FAITH William Charlton corresponds on matter REVIEWS: Tim Finigan on the loss of priestly asceticism Matthew Ward on knowing the Transcendent Sarah Holmes on chastity advice for teenagers ...and much more Price: £4 www.faith.org.uk annual faith Catholicism summer session a new synthesis by Edward Holloway Pope John Paul II gave the blueprint for catechetical renewal with the Catechism of the Catholic Church. Catholicism: A New Synthesis seeks to show why such teaching makes perfect sense in a world which has come of age in scientific understanding. It offers a way out of the current intellectual Monday 4th to Friday 8th August 2008 at Woldington School crisis, a way which is both modern and orthodox. Four days of lectures, discussion and seminars around a particular theme, in a relaxed holiday environment, with daily Mass and prayer. 503 pages FREEPOST Faith Magazine REIGATE RH2 0BR contact: Ann McCallion Tel: 0141 945 0393 £5 email: [email protected] no need for a stamp if posted in the UK fuller details on www.faith.org.uk Editor Hugh MacKenzie St.
    [Show full text]